Tag Archives: living dangerously

In the book and film, The Year of Living Dangerously, a young reporter tries to navigate political turmoil during a coup in Indonesia. In today’s climate, many managers are familiar with living dangerously. As a manager, you navigate budget reductions, uncertainties about the future of your organization, competitive agendas of other managers, heavy workloads and fluctuating markets.

Currently, you may not anticipate or recognize danger in your workplace. But, it can be there and you must be ready to deal with it when it shows up. Often, there are no guides and allies, as there were in the movie. You are on your own. You must navigate for yourself as well as for your team. Paramount to being successful in this navigation is knowing the territory and the uncertainties you are navigating in. Our human instincts have built – in indicators of danger. What are the indicators of danger in your organization?

To be ready for danger know, to the best extent possible, what is happening in your organization. When danger shows up, identify what caused it, how upper management is dealing with it, what expectations they have for you and what risks the danger presents for you and your team. Acknowledge that you need a different game plan to navigate a dangerous time.